Chapter Fourteen...The Top of The World (continued)
Finally they reached the top of the winding staircase after many pauses and a brief rest as the spot that let the
trickle of a small stream pass over its path. Reached the beginning of Thebe so to speak as well as the first rough
carving commemorating the defeat of the previous tribe that had lived in these hills and the consecration of the city
on the blood of twelve youths. Before that, there was only the single stone rising in the center of the stairs, worn
with time and the innumerable brush of hands that showed this cities allegiance to Hephaestus. Here still, his ability
to make weapons without equal and his mishappened form was respected and honored despite the later arrival of
temples to the other gods that helped crowd the city now. Andromache touched the stone herself automatically as
she passed it, lantern dipping to throw the abstract carving into startling life.
"And this - this is the beginning" she finished her story by reaching over and pushing open the narrow door set in
a deep recess in the wall.
It gave reluctantly but steadily under her touch and cold night air swept into the room and poured down the stairs
like a river. Overhead the stars were painfully sharp and so clear and close that there was no emptiness between
them. Only dimmer stars in the darkness. The world here consisted of sky and biting wind and a small, flatly
smoothed surface, worn and weathered by time and the elements. The mountains fell away below it and Thebe
was half hidden and pinpricks of light down the side of the mountains they stood on.
"Wow." He said, impressed at the view as they stepped out of the passage way finally. The wind didn't bother him,
like the men in the mountain below, his body was trained to deal with the elements in ways most normal people's
bodies weren't.
He found his footing and went right to the edge, looking straight out across the darkened, vast horizon and down
the mountain below, all its rocky crags and foot beaten paths barely visible in the starlight that was over head. "I
feel sorry for whoever tries to take their city away from these people." He observed, on account of the carvings he
had seen, the stories he had been told, and the rocky landscape that mirrored the people of Thebe. You couldn't
see forever, as you could from the highest point in Troy across the ocean, but you could see enough, t he horizon
melting off in the dark, the moonlight bouncing and glimmering off higher peaks, shadowing the valleys even
further.
"Thank you."
There was flint inside and so she blew out the lantern and left it just inside the door so its light wouldn't distract
from the brutal glory of the night. Watching her husband's form as he moved to the edge to fully see everything.
And the tone of his voice warmed and pleased her, making her smile quietly.
She had never come up here often. Or during the day. It had always seemed a magical spot to her and she had
never wanted to lose that impression of it to familiarity. If the gods truly did care, she thought, from this spot, they
might actually hear you. Perhaps even step down to join you.
Which was all the more reason to not spend too much time above what was mortal.
But tonight it had seemed perfect. He had shown her so much in Troy. So much that was amazing and beautiful
and clean that it took her breath away. She wanted to give him the best of Thebe as he had given her the most
precious in Troy.
Feeling the bite of the wind acutely, she moved over to where he was and silently joined him in his warm arms,
resting the side of her face against his solid chest as she looked down with him. He was right. This is what her
people were as much as they were the twisted, fire warmed rooms below. This was a part of her as well. Content,
she wound her arms around him and whispered back:
"I love you..."
"I definitely picked the right sister when I chose to drag you around Troy." He said with a warm, teasing chuckle as
he held her close in his arms, to warm her from the wind as it blew across them. But he had a point, Eleni would
never know anything about things like this, and probably couldn't appreciate it either. It wasn't a big flaw in the
younger girl, but enough to make him appreciate her sister, his wife, all the more.
He stood there for a bit, watching the landscape and the stars until he felt goosebumps on her. "Come on, you're
getting cold." He said.
"Eleni would have dragged you. And not around Troy" she agreed with a laugh, tucked close. "And I would have
ended up with a nice, quiet merchant spending my days picking ornaments for my hair." She raised her face to
look up at him. Willing to ignore the cold for a little while longer to be here, in this moment and this place with him.
Eyes warm she told him: "I like this. Much better."
"Me too." He agreed, turning a bit so he took the brunt of the wind, since it didn't bother him. Eventually it would,
since this was a climate far different from the hot sandy beaches of Troy. There the gardens required high
maintenance to keep green. Here the same gardens would still need help, but more due to rocky soil than dry heat.
Even he and the companion guard from Troy were darker than the people here, for sunlight wasn't as strong up
here in the shaded protection of the mountains. Even Andromache was now darker than her sisters, though now it
was due to freckling instead of sun soaked skin like him.
But he loved her freckles, and the milky white skin in between them, just about everything about her. How secretly
lonely her father must be, he realized, even with his many wives. Eetion thought Hector a fool, but Hector thought
the opposite.
She felt him sheltering her with his body. As he always did. Heart and body he protected her always. With a soft
humm, she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes as her body fit softly against his.
She loved him. More than she'd ever thought it was possible to love someone. He was her lover, her protector, her
husband, and her best friend. And she didn't have to look far to realize that that was not the natural order of things
in this world.
Hera. Hestia. If you hear me - if you ever answered a prayer - keep my love safe. Keep him whole and safe.
Spread your arms over him and guard him against all evil. Don't begrudge me his love. Have pity on me and keep
him safe.
It was a silent prayer, given in the arms of the man she loved on sacred ground at the top of the world.
Andromache didn't know if it was heard. If any god heard. But if they did not hear it here, now, they would never
hear anything. And if they only ever heard one prayer of hers, this was the one that she wanted them to remember.
Hector smoothed down her hair as the wind blew it around and just looked out at the landscape that was her home.
So completely different from Troy, and it was obvious she loved it here. So it spoke volumes that she would
willingly travel back across the Aegean when this trip was over, travel back across it with him.
He was unaware of her silent prayers to the gods, he was making his own. That this moment would stretch across
a lifetime, where everything was just perfect. But even if it didn't, he'd have the memory of it for a lifetime, which
would be more than enough.